A lost sock obituary Wool No. 6
2016 – 2023
Est. 2016. Last seen November 2023.
- Merino wool, darned twice at the heel
- Submitted by A household in Vantaa
Wool No. 6 was the sixth of a set of merino socks bought in 2016. The household numbered them in marker on the inside of the cuff, because otherwise nobody could tell them apart. Numbers one to five have since worn out in the ordinary way. Six was the one that lasted.
It lasted because of the heel. A grandmother in the household darned it twice, in a gray that almost matched, with the small, tight stitches of someone who did not approve of throwing things away. The first darn held for three winters. The second was still holding.
She died in 2019. The sock outlived her by four years. The family found that harder to talk about than they expected, so mostly they talked about the darning.
In November 2023 it went into a delicate cycle, the gentlest one the machine offers, and was not recovered. The household continues to check coat pockets. Every so often someone puts on a winter coat, feels something soft in a pocket, and pulls out a glove.
Care instructions, as she gave them
- Wash cold. Wool remembers.
- Dry flat, and never on the radiator.
- Darn when the heel goes thin, not when it goes through.
- Do not buy new ones while the old ones still have wear in them.